Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov

Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov, (born Oct. 28, 1940, Mytishchi, U.S.S.R. [now Russia]—died Dec. 25, 2004, Moscow), Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who flew five times in space over a period of 15 years and who participated in the first joint Russian-American flight to the Mirspace station.

From 1957 Strekalov was a mechanic at the OKB-1 design organization (now known as RKK Energia) and worked on the first Sputnik satellite. In 1973 he formally joined the organization’s engineer cosmonaut squad. He flew his first mission in 1980 as a cosmonaut-researcher on Soyuz T-3, a short repair flight to the Salyut 6 station lasting 13 ... (100 of 339 words)